Nail Enamel Applicator

ABSTRACT

A nail polish dispenser is presented. The nail polish dispenser features a dual purpose nail polish applicator assembly that allows for the application of polish over a broad region of a fingernail via a brush applicator and also allows for a narrow line application of polish via a pen applicator. The nail polish dispenser includes the dual purpose applicator assembly and a polish reservoir or bottle for holding liquid nail polish and a cap. The dual purpose applicator assembly is removably attachable to the bottle and the cap is removably attachable to the pen applicator of the applicator assembly. The brush applicator and pen applicator are in fluid communication with the polish when the polish bottle is in an upright position and an inverted position, respectively.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/969,147 filed on Mar. 22, 2014, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of fluid dispensers for nail polish and more particularly to fluid dispensers having an opening and a dual applicator assembly removably attached to a container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Since antiquity, women have decorated their finger nails by applying colored polishes. These polishes, when hardened, give finger nails a decorative and appealing appearance. Traditionally, nail polishes have been available only in a limited selection of colors and have been applied to finger nails as smooth uniform coatings. Nail polish applicators have traditionally been in the form of small bristle brushes having substantially uniform bristles. These applicators are designed to apply nail polish over a relatively wide area, as smoothly as possible, to create a smooth and uniform coating.

In recent times however, nail polish has become available in a great variety of colors and it has become quite popular to create fanciful nail designs using a multiplicity of colors. While the bristle brushes of the prior art have proven well-suited to providing a broad uniform coating of nail polish on a nail, they have proven to be inadequate for creating intricate nail designs. The creation of intricate nail designs demands an applicator that can apply nail polish in narrow line, similar to that created by an ink pen.

Accordingly, there is now a need in the art for nail polish applicators that can apply polish in a narrow line for the purpose of creating a design, as well as apply polish broadly over the surface of a nail.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention improves upon the prior art by providing a nail polish dispenser that features a dual purpose nail polish applicator assembly that allows for the application of a nail polish or coating over a broad region of a fingernail or substrate via a brush applicator and also allows for narrow, line application of polish via a pen applicator. The nail polish dispenser includes the dual purpose applicator assembly and a polish reservoir or bottle for holding liquid nail polish and a cap. The dual purpose applicator assembly is removably attachable to the bottle and the cap is removably attachable to the pen applicator of the applicator assembly. The brush applicator of the applicator assembly includes a stem which extends downwardly into the polish bottle and is in fluid communication with the polish when the polish bottle is in an upright position. The pen applicator, by contrast, is in fluid communication with the polish when the bottle is held in an inverted position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent with regard to the following description, claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of nail polish applicator and bottle in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the nail polish applicator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the nail polish applicator and bottle of FIG. 1, and a bottle cap, with the applicator attached to the bottle and the cap attached to the applicator;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of a pen plug (with a brush tip inserted in the plug) in accordance with the present invention, as depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows a bottom view of the pen plug of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a top view of the pen plug of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of the pen plug of FIG. 4, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 6, and also shows a sectional view of the brush stern depicted FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 shows a sectional view of the pen plug of FIG. 4, taken along the line B-B of FIG. 6, and also shows sectional view of the brush stern depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the pen head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 shows a sectional view of the pen head of FIG. 9, taken along the line C-C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an exploded view of a nail polish dispenser 8 of the present invention. The dispenser 8 includes an applicator assembly 10, a polish bottle or polish reservoir 28, and a cap 30. The applicator assembly 10 comprises a brush applicator 12 and a pen applicator 14. The brush applicator 12 comprises a stem 16 and a brush 18. The pen applicator 14 comprises a pen housing 20, a pen head 22, a hollow pen tip or application element 24, and a pen plug 26.

Referring now o FIG. 3, the polish bottle or reservoir 28 includes a cylindrical side wall 30, a top end wall 32, an opposing bottom wall 34, and a hollow neck 36. The neck 36 is cylindrical and includes external helical threads 38 formed therein. The diameter of the neck 36 is preferably less than that of the cylindrical side wall 30. The neck 38 has a lower end 42 and an upper end 44 and a hollow cylindrical bore 40 is formed therebetween. The hollow cylindrical bore 40 is open at both the upper and lower ends 42 and 44 of the neck 36 of the polish bottle 28.

The polish bottle 28 may be made of glass, aluminum, plastic or like materials. Flexible plastic is a preferred material because it will permit the cylindrical side wall 30 to be resiliently deformed when pressed inwardly by a user to decrease the volume of the polish bottle 28 and thereby pressurize the liquid polish disposed therein. Such pressurization is useful when the pen applicator 14 of the dispenser 8 is being used. Materials which may be clear in color, such as plastic and glass, are also desirable because they allow for a visual check of the level of polish remaining the polish bottle 28.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the pen housing 20 of the applicator assembly 10 includes a base 46 having a lower end 74 and an upper end 76 and a cylindrical side wall 48 therebetween which defines an interior bore 72. The interior bore 72 includes a helical internal thread 50 formed therein. The cylindrical side wall 48 may optionally be tapered along its length. The internal thread 50 of the pen housing 20 is configured to threadably engage the external thread 38 of the neck 36 of the polish bottle 28 to removably attach the applicator assembly 10 to the neck 36 of the polish bottle 28. The pen housing 20 may optionally be provided with a textured surface to facilitate threading and unthreading of the applicator assembly 10 from the polish bottle 28.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the pen housing 20 features a cylindrical step portion 52 having a diameter less than the base 46. The cylindrical step portion 52 is centrally joined to an end wall 54 of the base 46. The cylindrical step 52 includes a cylindrical locking rib 56 at its upper end. The cylindrical step portion 52 includes an interior pen plug retention bore 78 having a diameter less than the bore 72 of the base 46. The pen plug retention bore 78 terminates in a generally cylindrical pen plug ledge 80. Positioned above the pen plug retention bore 78 is a pen head retention bore 82 which has a diameter less than the pen plug retention bore 78. The pen head retention bore 82 terminates in a generally circular pen head abutment surface 84.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, extending upwardly from the locking rib 56 of the cylindrical step portion 52 is a nozzle portion 58. In the exemplary embodiment, the nozzle portion 58 has a generally tapering exterior conical surface comprising a lower generally tapering conical portion 64 and an upper generally tapering conical portion 66. A transition portion 68 interconnects the generally tapering upper 66 and lower 64 conical portions. The generally tapering upper conical portion 66 of the nozzle portion 58 transitions to a generally cylindrical pen tip portion 60 via a transition portion 70. In the exemplary embodiment, the transition portion 70 features a generally concave curvature of generally decreasing radius along its length. The nozzle portion 58 of the applicator assembly 10 also includes an interior pen head bore 62. Likewise, the pen tip portion 60 includes a pen tip bore 86.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, the pen head 22 of the applicator assembly 10 includes a lower pen head body 90 and an upper pen head body 92. The lower pen head body 90 has a lower end 94 and an upper end 96 and a generally cylindrical wall 98 extending therebetween. At the lower end of the lower pen head body 90 is a generally annular ledge 100. Extending radially outwardly from the generally annular ledge 100 are two generally annular ledge extensions 102. The generally annular ledge extensions 102 span approximately 20 to 40 degrees of arc length and are spaced 180 degrees apart. Within the interior of the lower pen head body 90 of the pen head 20 is formed a generally cylindrical bore 104 which terminates in a cavity 106.

With continued reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, the upper pen head body 92 of the pen head 22 is formed by a general cylindrical side wall 112 bounded by the upper end 96 of the lower pen head body and an upper end 108 of the upper pen head body 92. The diameter of the generally cylindrical side wall 112 of the upper pen head body 92 is less than that of the generally cylindrical side wall 98 of the lower pen head body 90. The generally cylindrical side walls 112 and 92 of the upper and lower pen head bodies 92 and 90 are interconnected via step wall 110. Generally triangular support gussets 114 are spaced about the exterior periphery of the generally cylindrical wall 112 of the upper pen head body 92. Formed within the upper pen head body 92 of the pen head 22 is a pen tip retention bore 116. The pen tip retention bore 116 extends through the upper pen head body 92 and is in fluid communication with the cavity 106 of the lower pen head body 90 of the pen head 22. The pen tip retention bore 116 is configured to receive the pen tip 24. The pen tip 24 comprises a hollow cylindrical rod 27 having a through bore 25.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-7, the pen plug 26 of the applicator assembly 10 includes a lower pen plug body 118, an upper pen plug body 120, with a locating ring 122 therebetween. The lower pen plug body 118 includes a generally cylindrical side wall 124 extending from a lower end 126 of the lower pen plug body 118 to an upper end 128. Formed within the lower pen plug body 118 is a bore 130 (best shown in FIGS. 4 and 8). Extending radially inwardly into the bore 130 are gussets 132, having innermost surfaces 134 (see FIG. 5). In the exemplary embodiment four gussets 132 are used. The innermost surfaces 134 are sized such that the gussets 132 form a press or slip fit with the outside diameter of the brush stem 16. Extending radially outwardly from the gussets 132 at about the upper end 128 of the lower pen plug body 118 are gusset extensions 144 (best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6). The gusset extensions 144 serve to control the insertion depth of the brush stem 16 in the pen plug 26 and further serve to ensure that the brush stem 16 does not close out or obstruct the bore 140 of the upper pen plug body 120.

When the brush stem 16 is secured within the gussets 132, (best shown in FIG. 8), sector passageways 136 are defined by the brush stem 16, the generally cylindrical side wall 124, and the gussets 132. In the exemplary embodiment four sector passageways 136 corresponding to the four gussets 132, are present. The sector passageways 136 are in fluid communication with the contents of the polish bottle 28 when the applicator assembly 10 is attached to the polish bottle 28 and the bottle is inverted.

The upper pen plug body 120 includes a generally cylindrical wall 138 and an interior bore 140. The bore 140 extends from a top end 142 of the upper pen plug body 120 through the locating ring 122 to the upper end 128 of the lower pen plug body 118 and is in fluid communication with the sector passageways 136 of the lower pen plug body 118. The generally cylindrical side wall 138 of upper pen plug body 120 is configured to be a press or slip fit within the generally cylindrical bore 104 of the pen head 22. The locating ring 122 of the pen plug 26 is sized to be a press or slip fit with the pen plug retention bore 78 of the pen housing 20.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the brush applicator 12 includes the brush stem 16 and the brush 18. In the exemplary embodiment, the brush 18 is composed of a plurality of flexible bristles. Alternatively, the brush 18 may be a shaped foam pad or like material suitable for applying nail polish. Preferably, the brush stem 16 will be capable of flexing. A number of low density plastic materials such as low density polyethylene are suitable for this application.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the cap 30 features a cylindrical side wall 146 having a first end 150 defining an enlarged opening 152 and a second end 154 closed by an end wall 148. The cap 30 further includes an upper bore 156. The upper bore 156 is sized to provide a press or interference fit with the nozzle portion 58 of the pen housing 20. Likewise, the enlarged opening 152 is sized to provide an interference fit with the locking rib 56 of the pen housing 20.

The pen housing 20, pen head 22 and pen plug 26 may be made from a wide variety of materials. Plastic materials such as high density polyethylene or polypropylene are representative suitable materials. The pen tip 24 will generally be made of tubular metallic materials as is known in the art.

Assembly and use of the applicator 8 of the present invention will now be discussed in detail. Referring to FIG. 3, the nail polish applicator 8 of the present invention is shown as a complete assembly. Referring to FIG. 2, the applicator assembly 10 of the applicator 8 comprises the pen applicator 14 and the brush applicator 12, where the pen applicator comprises the pen housing 20, pen head 22, pen plug 26, and pen tip 24, and the brush assembly 12 comprises the brush stem 16 and brush 18.

Referring to FIGS. 2-10, assembly of the pen applicator 14 is generally as follows. The pen head 22 is secured to the pen housing 20, i.e. the generally cylindrical side wall 112 of the upper pen head body 92 (see FIG. 9) is secured by means of a press fit or an adhesive within the pen head retention bore 82 of the pen housing 20 (see FIGS. 2-3), with the generally annular ring extensions 102 of the lower pen head body 90 of the pen head 20 (see FIG. 9) abutting the generally circular pen head abutment surface 84. (See FIGS. 2-3.) Secured within the pen housing 20 and pen head 22 is the pen plug 26. The generally cylindrical side wall 124 of the upper pen plug body 138 of the pen plug 26 (see FIGS. 4 and 7-8) is press fit or secured with an adhesive within the bore 104 of the lower pen head body 90 of the pen head 22 (see FIG. 10), while the annular ring 122 of the pen plug 26 (see FIGS. 4 and 7-8) is press fit or secured with adhesive within the pen plug retention bore 78 of the pen housing 20. (See FIGS. 2-3.)

Secured to the pen head 22 is the pen tip 24. The pen tip 24 is secured to the pen head 22 by means of press fitting the pen tip 24 into the pen tip retention bore 116 of the upper pen head body 92 of the pen head 22. (See FIGS. 9-10.) Alternatively, the pen tip 24 may be secured within the pen tip retention bore by means of an adhesive. The pen tip 24 further extends upwardly through the pen tip bore 86 of the pen tip portion 60 of the pen housing 20.

The applicator assembly 10 is completed by securing the brush applicator 12 to the pen applicator 14. (See FIG. 2.) The brush applicator 12 is secured to the pen applicator 14 by press fitting a first end 15 (see FIG. 1) of the brush stem 16 within the gussets 132 of the lower pen plug body 118 of the pen plug 26. (See FIGS. 4-8.) Alternatively, the brush stern 16 may be secured to the gussets 132 by means of an adhesive. The brush 18 is secured to a second end 17 the brush stem 16 (see FIG. 1) by means of an adhesive, ultrasonic bonding or other means known in the art.

Referring now to FIG. 3, as a final assembly procedure, the polish bottle 28 is filled with a liquid nail polish (not shown) and the applicator assembly 10 is secured to the polish bottle 28 by means of mating the internal thread 50 of the pen housing 20 with the external thread 38 of the neck 36 of the polish bottle 28. Thereafter, the cap 30 is secured to the applicator assembly 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the brush 18 extends into the polish bottle 28 and into the liquid polish and may be used simply by unscrewing the applicator assembly 10 from the polish bottle 28 and applying polish to the nails to be coated with polish. When it is desired to use the pen applicator 14, the cap 30 is removed from the applicator assembly 10. The polish bottle 28 and the attached applicator assembly 10 are then inverted. The action of gravity causes the liquid polish to flow through the neck 36 of the polish bottle 28 and into the sector passageways 136 of the pen plug 26. From the sector passageways 136, the polish flows into the interior bore 140 of the upper pen plug body and therefrom into the generally cylindrical bore 104 and cavity 106 of the pen head 22. Thereafter, the liquid polish enters the pen tip 24 which may subsequently be used to apply polish in the form of lines to the nails to be coated with polish.

The foregoing detailed description and appended drawings are intended as a description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and are not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be constructed and/or utilized. Those skilled in the art will understand that modifications and alternative embodiments of the present invention which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the foregoing specification, drawings, and appendix of the claims below are possible and practical. It is intended that the claimed invention covers all such modifications and alternative embodiments. 

1. An applicator for applying nail polish, the applicator comprising: a polish reservoir for holding the polish to be applied; a housing releasably secured to the reservoir; a pen applicator secured within the housing; a brush applicator secured to the pen applicator and extending from the housing in a direction opposite to that of the pen applicator; wherein the pen applicator comprises a pen head adapted to be secured within the housing and a pen plug adapted to be secured within the pen head and the housing; wherein the pen head includes a pen tip secured therein; wherein the pen tip, pen head, and pen plug are in fluid communication with reservoir; wherein the brush applicator comprises a stem having a first end and a second end, wherein a brush extends from the second end; the brush extending into the reservoir; and wherein the pen plug is adapted to secure the first end of the brush stem, thereby securing the brush applicator to the pen applicator.
 2. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a base joined to a nozzle joined to a pen tip portion, wherein the pen tip, pen head and pen plug are secured within the nozzle of the housing.
 3. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 2, wherein the pen tip extends outwardly from the pen tip portion of the housing.
 4. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 2, wherein base of the housing includes a cylindrical side wall defining an interior bore, the interior bore having an internal thread formed thereon.
 5. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 4, wherein the polish reservoir includes a neck, the neck having an external thread formed thereon, the neck being disposed in the base of the housing with the external thread of the neck of the reservoir mating with the internal thread of the base of the housing, wherein the housing is releasably secured to the reservoir.
 6. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 1, wherein the application element of the pen applicator comprises a hollow cylindrical tube.
 7. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 1, wherein the polish reservoir includes a side wall made from a resiliently deformable material to permit the side wall to be resiliently deformed in an inward direction to pressurize the polish contained in the reservoir.
 8. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 1, further including a cap, wherein the cap covers the pen tip and the pen tip portion and nozzle of the housing.
 9. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 8, wherein the housing includes a rib for engaging the cap.
 10. An applicator for applying polish to nails, the applicator comprising: a polish reservoir for holding polish to be applied, the polish reservoir including a neck, the neck having an external thread formed thereon; a housing releasably secured to the reservoir, the housing including a base, the base having a side wall defining an interior bore, the interior bore having an internal thread formed therein; wherein the neck of the polish reservoir is disposed in the base of the housing with the external thread of the neck of the reservoir mating with the internal thread of the base of the housing, wherein the housing is releasably secured to the reservoir; a pen applicator secured to the housing and in fluid communication with the reservoir for receiving polish therefrom, the pen applicator comprising an application element extending from the housing; and a brush applicator secured to the housing, the brush applicator having a stem with a brush extending therefrom, said stem extending into the reservoir.
 11. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 10, wherein the pen applicator and the brush applicator extend from the housing in opposite directions.
 12. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 10, wherein the application element of the pen applicator comprises a hollow cylindrical tube.
 13. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 10, wherein the polish reservoir includes a cylindrical side wall made from a deformable material to permit the side wall to be resiliently deformed in an inward direction to pressurize the polish contained in the reservoir.
 14. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 10, further including a cap, wherein the cap covers the pen applicator and further wherein the housing includes a rib for engaging the cap.
 15. An applicator for applying a coating to a substrate, the applicator comprising: a reservoir for holding the coating to be applied; a housing releasably secured to the reservoir; a pen applicator secured to the housing and in fluid communication with the reservoir for receiving the coating therefrom, the pen applicator comprising an application element extending from the housing; and a brush applicator secured to the housing, the brush applicator having a stem with a brush extending therefrom, said stem extending into the reservoir.
 16. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 15, wherein the housing includes a base, the base having a cylindrical side wall defining an interior bore, the interior bore having an internal thread formed therein.
 17. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 16, wherein the polish reservoir includes a neck, the neck having an external thread formed thereon, the neck being disposed in the base of the housing with the external thread of the neck of the reservoir mating with the internal thread of the base of the housing, wherein the housing is releasably secured to the reservoir.
 18. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 15, wherein the pen applicator and the brush applicator extend from the housing in opposite directions.
 19. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 15, wherein the application element of the pen applicator comprises a hollow cylindrical tube.
 20. The applicator for applying nail polish of claim 15, wherein the polish reservoir includes a cylindrical side wall made from a deformable material to permit the side wall to be resiliently deformed in an inward direction to pressurize the polish contained in the reservoir. 